. >> nine, and so, there's been this sea change between now and 1996? >> reporter: but the court's liberals sharply questioned doma saying the federal benefits denied legally married same-sex couples have a profound effect. >> they touch every aspect of your life. your partner is sick. and social security -- i mean, it's pervasive. the full marriage and then this sort of skim milk marriage. >> reporter: justice kennedy, potentially the pivotal vote, said the states, not congress, traditionally define what it means to be married and eligible for federal benefits. >> you are at real risk of running in conflict with what has always been thought to be the essence of the state police power which is to regulate marriage, divorce, custody. >> reporter: several justice said congress was improperly discriminating when they passed law. >> i'll quote from the house report here. congress decided to reflect and honor a collective moral judgment until to express moral. >>> arizona officials have released 3,000 pages of documents related to the 2011 tucson shooting th